McClain's guide to Texans-Titans game

3of5This is a 2012 photo of Tennessee Titans Nate Washington of the Tennessee Titans NFL football team. This image reflects the Tennessee Titans active roster as of Tuesday, June 5, 2012. (AP Photo)Photo: Uncredited

4of5This is a 2012 photo of Michael Griffin of the Tennessee Titans NFL football team. This image reflects the Tennessee Titans active roster as of Tuesday, June 5, 2012 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)Photo: Uncredited

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Five questions going into today's game

1. Can the Titans do what no other team has done in the Texans' last five games - control defensive end J.J. Watt? The Titans haven't allowed a sack in their last two games. They kept the Lions off quarterback Jake Locker. They'll have to double-team Watt if they hope to control him, and even then there's no guarantee. Watt moves inside in passing situations. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is moving him to keep him on the run. Going back to the playoffs, Watt has nine sacks in five games, including 51/2 this season. The defense has been on the field less than any defense in the league, but he has been on a tear. He has 15 tackles, tying Brian Cushing for the team lead. Watt leads with 12 unassisted tackles, five deflections, seven tackles for loss and eight hits on the quarterback. He's 6-5, 295 pounds and relentless from start to finish.

2. What are the odds that Titans running back Chris Johnson finally has a breakout game against the Texans? Not good at all. The Texans rank second in defense, including fourth against the run. They surrender only 67.7 yards a game. But opponents have averaged 4.5 yards a carry. That looks like opponents are running in passing situations or they're just not getting enough attempts. The Titans are definitely not getting enough attempts. They're last with an average time of possession of 23:18 compared with the Texans' 36:34. The Titans are last with a 39-yard average per game and a 2.6-yard average per carry. Johnson, who got $30 million guaranteed last year, has carried 33 times for 45 yards. That's a 1.4-yard average. Tennessee's running game has been so bad that quarterback Jake Locker, in his first season as the starter, is the team's leading rusher with 67 yards on eight carries. For the season, the Titans have run for only 117 yards.

3. Can the Texans run on the Titans like they've run on everybody else? The Titans are 31st in defense, allowing 463 yards a game. They've allowed more points than any team in the league. One reason for their ineptness is because they haven't been able to stop the run. Opponents have gouged them for 150.3 yards a game, ranking them 29th. They're also 30th in pass defense. Defensive coordinator Jerry Gray, who's in his second season with the Titans, plays a 4-3. He doesn't blitz a lot. Stopping the run is important to him. He wants to stop the run and force opponents to throw and get after the quarterback with a four- and five-man rush. The Texans want to run well enough to force the Titans to commit eight players in the box. That means one safety back, and Matt Schaub will throw down the field. Arian Foster and Ben Tate should be able to pound the ball and control the clock, which the Texans have done better than any team in the league.

4. How does the Texans' defense stop quarterback Jake Locker, who's in his first season as a starter? The Texans saw Locker last season when he was a rookie and replaced Matt Hasselbeck in the Texans' 41-7 victory at Nashville. He's coming off his best game in the 44-41 overtime victory over Detroit. He completed 29 of 42 passes for 378 yards and two touchdowns. More importantly, he didn't throw an interception. His 413 combined yards passing and rushing were the most by a Titans quarterback since Billy Volek had 493 in 2004. When Locker was drafted in the first round last year, the Titans knew they had a mobile quarterback who needed to work on his accuracy. So far, Locker is completing 64.4 percent of his passes working with offensive coordinator Chris Palmer.

5. If the Titans can surprise everyone and stay within striking distance and the game is going to be settled by field goals, what kind of chance do they have? With Rob Bironas, are you kidding? Bironas owns the Texans. This is his eighth season. He owns the NFL record with eight field goals in a game. Guess where he accomplished that feat. Yes, Reliant Stadium. That was in 2007, when he went to the Pro Bowl. He has had five consecutive seasons with at least 110 points. His last two seasons have been his most accurate. Since 2005, David Akers is the only kicker with more field goals than Bironas. He's connected on 81-of-105 from at least 40 yards, and that 77.1 percent success rate is the most accurate in NFL history for a kicker with at least 100 attempts. In other words, you don't want this game to come down to a field goal.

Texans players to watch

Arian Foster, running back

Foster is going after his third consecutive 100-yard game. He also has a league-best 13 touchdowns in division games. Foster has been outstanding at home, too. He averages 24 carries, 116 yards and a touchdown in home games.

Andre Johnson, wide receiver

Johnson isn't happy with his performance so far - 13 catches for 212 yards and two TDs. But Johnson has played some of his most prolific games against the Titans, who no longer have his nemesis, cornerback Cortland Finnegan.

Last season, Washington had four catches for 92 yards and a touchdown in one game against the Texans. In 2011, he was the first Titans receiver with 1,000 yards since 2004. He's off to a good start this season with 26.4 yards per catch.

Michael Griffin, free safety

The former first-round pick from Texas has never missed a game in six seasons. After being awarded with a new contract, Griffin has struggled. He has been moved around, and he hasn't played as well as the coaches would like.

Texans 31, Titans 16: The Texans will have to commit turnovers and fall way behind early, or Tennessee will have to make a lot of big plays on both sides of the ball for the Titans to pull off an upset.

John McClain, a Waco native who graduated from Baylor in 1975, is in his 43rd year at the Houston Chronicle and his 40th covering the National Football League, including the Oilers and Texans. He worked for the Waco Tribune Herald from 1973-76, when he accepted a job with the Chronicle. to cover the original Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association.

McClain has a plaque in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio as the 2006 winner of the Dick McCann Memorial Award presented annually by the Pro Football Writers of America to a writer for his long and distinguished coverage of the NFL. He is past president of the Pro Football Writers of America.

He's a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Seniors Committee and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame Selection Committee.

In 2015, he was named as a Gridiron Legend in Texas, becoming the third member of the media behind Dave Campbell and Mickey Herskowitz.

McClain can be heard six times a week on the Texans' flagship station Sports Radio 610 in Houston. He also does weekly sports talk shows in Nashville, Knoxville, Waco, Austin and San Antonio.

McClain also has appeared in eight movies: The Rookie, The Longest Yard, Spring Breakers, Secretariat, Invincible, Cook County, The Game Plan and Make It Rain.

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